Notes at the Moscow City-Wide Party Conference
Заметки на Московской общегородской партийной конференции
Date: 1918-05-13
Source: ru:LS/v11
Translated by: AI (Claude)

[Lenin's Miscellany]

Workers are dissatisfied with the center
and the generals...
Nationalization is being repealed...

Emelyan Yaroslavsky:
"we are forced to violate
the Brest peace"

"duality of policy"

Emelyan Yaroslavsky:
"The Brest respite
has completely ended"...

Emelyan Yaroslavsky:
"This is the tactics
of the working class,
recognizing complete
impotence"

Emelyan Yaroslavsky:
This is the only reserve...
because this is
the only reserve,
taken
from the white
guardists

Kollontai:
"note of disbelief"...

[Note 1: N. I. Bukharin apparently refers to Lenin's phrase from the concluding speech at the VII Party Congress and at the session of the former VTsIK on April 29 about being 70% in agreement with Bukharin. (See Works, vol. XXII, pp. 331, 492.)]

[Note 2: This refers to Lenin's analysis of N. I. Bukharin's review of the pamphlet "The State and Revolution." (See Works, vol. XXII, pp. 488, 527.)]

[Note 3: To clarify G. Ya. Sokolnikov's speech, we include his explanation sent to the Lenin Institute in 1925:

"As far as I can recall, in May 1918 after Mirbach's arrival and in connection with the advance of German troops toward Voronezh and Tsaritsyn, the question arose in the Central Committee of what to do in connection with the clearly developing German occupation advance. Lenin's 'Theses' gave an answer in part to this question as well. Lenin made a report on this topic at a party meeting (I think, the Moscow City Conference). My name is mentioned in the note made by Lenin, as I spoke at that meeting. I defended the point of view that in Germany the military party had gained the upper hand and that the Germans were moving to break the Brest peace; therefore it was necessary to prepare for struggle in the near future. In Lenin's 'theses' the indication of the transfer of power to the military party is made more categorically than he formulated it in preliminary debates in the Central Committee.

I noted this in my speech, and this is what Lenin's note refers to. The polemical part of my speech consisted in that I considered the preparation for the impending clash with the Germans insufficiently energetic. Such a clash did not actually happen, and military actions began along a completely different line."]

[Note 4: This apparently refers to A. E. Lositsky's questionnaire, developed in May 1918 on the question of accounting for bread consumption by the Moscow population. (See "Red Moscow" 1917-1920. Publication of the Moscow Soviet of W., S. and R.D.)]

[Note 5: This refers to the statements of the "Left Communists" at the VII Party Congress that in case of concluding the Brest Peace, the imperialists would smash the Soviet Republic piecemeal: first Finland and Ukraine, then Russia.]

[Note 6: This refers to N. I. Bukharin's participation in the Ivanovo-Voznesensk district party conference, where on May 10, 1918 he spoke with a report on the current moment and passed a "left" resolution by a majority of 12 votes against 9, with 4 abstaining. (See "Kommunist" No. 4, June 1918, p. 16.)]

NOTE TO Y. M. SVERDLOV
[May 13, 1918]

The note to Y. M. Sverdlov printed below was written by Lenin at the Moscow city-wide conference session on May 13 in two stages: the first two questions during N. I. Bukharin's speech, the last question during G. Ya. Sokolnikov's speech. Lenin's questions are printed in roman type; Y. M. Sverdlov's answers in smaller type.

1) Did he say that in Ivanovo-Voznesensk their resolution won?
2) Is this true?

Said it.

I haven't verified, but this is quite possible.

Shall I read his resolution in the Central Committee and tear it apart?
When was this? May 9 or 10?

On Friday.

[Note: Y. M. Sverdlov in response to Lenin's question "May 9 or 10?" crossed out the first part of the question: "9 or" and underlined twice "10. V", added "on Friday" and, underlining these words also twice, circled them and connected them with "10. V".]

PLAN FOR CONCLUDING REMARKS AT THE MOSCOW CITY-WIDE PARTY CONFERENCE
[May 13, 1918]

The document printed below represents the plan for Lenin's concluding remarks at the Moscow city-wide party conference, compiled on the basis of summarizing notes on the debates (cf. document 33, p. 85).

1) Lenin did not answer:
[we have] nationalized too much
Lenin does not agree that heavy industry should be nationalized.

2) Kremlin rifles and the Tula peasant

3) State capitalism and "dictatorship of finance capital"

4) "alarm bell," how is it harmful?
"unification of wills"!
Mirbach and war?

5) "Smashed the Ukrainians and Finns"? [Yanishev] = Ivanovo-Voznesensk.

6) 2 souls in Lenin: Lenin has
1) we cannot
2) Germany cannot
{there must be a limit to concessions}

7) Sokolnikov's resolution...

PLAN FOR REPORT ON FOREIGN POLICY AT THE JOINT SESSION OF VTsIK AND THE MOSCOW SOVIET, MAY 14, 1918
[May 14, 1918]

The document printed below represents the plan for the report on foreign policy made by Lenin on May 14, 1918 at the joint session of the VTsIK, the Moscow Soviet of Workers' Deputies, and representatives of trade unions and factory committees.

The speech is printed in Works, vol. XXIII, p. 5.

I. External policy of the government
A. Essence: Imperialist contradictions and struggle
B. Formulation – juridical: Brest Peace Treaty and neutrality

II. ad A ----- Japan and America

III. German majority of bourgeois-imperialist parties versus extreme military party.

IV. For the Brest peace...
(I will not repeat the arguments: they have been in print many times)

V. Finland
   Hunger
   Murmansk

VI. Ukraine. Coup and hopes of Russian counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie.
    Crimea.
    Fleet.

VII. Turkey.

VIII. We are defensists. For the defense of the fatherland.

IX. Russian Cadets hope to sell themselves to the Germans – to the extreme military party.

X. Joffe's telegram.

[Note: A. A. Joffe's telegram is mentioned in the plan of the speech, cited at the end of Lenin's speech and printed in "Pravda" No. 94, May 16 (3), 1918.]